She Planted Marigolds On Their Graves
by Cut The Dotted Line
Summary: She was just their little neighbor girl that would camp on the edge of their property when her dad was drinking. Daryl and Merle were just going to give her a ride to Atlanta where it was safe. Their plans get changed and the brothers find themselves stuck with little Katie Jones in a world she can't handle. - Friendship, family, and some sweet fluffy stuff with Daryl. Hiatus.
1. Little Katie Jones

Morana here, this is my first ever Walking Dead story. I've loved the show ever since it first came out, but I just got into reading the fanfiction for it and I had an idea so… Here it is. Please don't be too harsh on me for it.

Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once, I don't own crap. It's called _fan_fiction for a reason. The only thing that is mine is Katie Jones.

Also I'm sorry this is kinda short.

Chapter Theme Song: Little Girl by John Michael Montgomery (I'm gonna try to put a theme song at the beginning of every chapter, but no promises.)

* * *

It was a cool summer day as Katie sat in the small field about a half mile away from her house. She had a sketch pad and a mechanical pencil in her hands as she attempted to draw some wild flowers next to her little campsite. In her peripheral vision she saw movement and turned her head to look up. It was one of her neighbors from about a mile up the road.

"Howdy, you want an apple?" she asked Daryl who held his hand out as an answer to her question.

"What're you doin' out here?" he asked catching the apple she tossed to him.

"Your daddy drunk again?" she looked behind her and saw Merle.

"Yeah, I'll probably be spendin' my summer in the woods again, sorry." She said as Merle squatted down next to the girl.

"It's okay girlie, if your daddy gives you any trouble you come runnin' we'll help ya." He said mussing up her hair with a bit of a smile as he stood.

They had seen her grow up, mostly from driving by to go into town and seeing her playing in her parent's front yard. She was about eleven when her mother died and her father turned to drinking to numb his pain. He ended up only causing his daughter more pain. It was in the spring following her mother's death that they bumped into her while they were illegally hunting. She was a sweet kid and always welcomed them to her little campsite. Six years later she was still the same and they had come to think of her as a friend rather than an annoyance as they had back when they first bumped into her.

"I will sir." She said to him politely as she handed him an apple.

"Hey, did you hear about the news reports?" Daryl asked her and she shook her head.

"Darylina don't go scarin' the kid." Merle said to his brother who glared at him.

"No, tell me, please?" she asked them looking up at them.

"There was somethin' 'bout people eatin' each other and that getting' bit turns people in to mindless cannibals." Daryl said to her and her eyes widened in fear.

"Now see what cha did, you scared her." Merle scolded his brother.

"Nah, it's not that scary." She said shaking her head.

"Okay, well, we'll be 'round so if you need us yell." Daryl said to her and she nodded at him.

"See ya around kid." Merle said mussing her hair up again.

"Bye." She called to them.

Katie began pulling her camp back together as soon as she was sure they were far enough away. Her father had said something about a man outside of the liquor store biting him and she wanted to make sure he was alright. The last thing she needed was Hannibal Lector for a father and for him to end up in jail for eating someone. She figured that she could get him to go to the hospital so that he'd be able to get treatment.

She walked up to the house and listened to the oddly quiet house. He normally had the radio playing some country music station while he drank. It was too quiet for her to believe that he was home, but his old pickup truck sat there in the drive way unmoved. Katie sat her tent bag and backpack down on the steps before hesitantly opening the front door to her home.

"Daddy?" she called into the dark empty space.

* * *

Morana's Ramble: Cliff hanger on the first chapter?! I know right, well if you review just telling me you liked it or that it got your attention I'll keep posting. I'd also do that if I get favorites and follows? Morana out~!


	2. I'm not alright

Chapter Theme Song: So Cold by Breaking Benjamin

* * *

"Daddy, you there?" Katie called into her house nervously. The floor boards creaked as someone moved inside of her house. She stepped back to the stairs not knowing if he was drunk. If he was she was likely to get a beating for leaving the house without telling him. Slowly the pale form that was once her father came to the doorway.

Her father let out a garbled hiss as he stumbled towards her. She took a step back and stumbled down the stairs in horror. He tumbled down the stairs after her as she crawled backwards and away from him. She jumped to her feet as he started to stand up. Her father stumbled forward and she looked around for something she could use to defend herself with.

"Dad, what's wrong with you?" she asked as she grabbed the only thing she could; a large rock, "Dad?!"

He moved a little faster suddenly and knocked her to the ground. She used their momentum to roll over and pin him down. She took the large rock with both hands and brought it down on his skull screaming at the top of her lungs as she did. She kept beating his head in as she sobbed and shook.

"Katie…" she stood as Daryl called out her name. She knew the brothers had probably seen the whole thing, but didn't care as she bent over and threw up.

"He was one of them things you was talkin' 'bout." She said when she knew she could trust her voice again, "He tried to kill me."

"You alright?" Merle asked her as she stared at the ground and then at her blood covered hands.

"No." Her voice cracked and when she felt she could trust it again she looked up at them, "I just killed my dad, I'm sooo far from alright right now."

"Clean up, we'll take care of this, okay?" Daryl said and Merle gave him a look.

"'Kay, thank you." She said shakily walking back to her house.

* * *

"What were you thinkin' offerin' to help that little girl?" Merle grumbled at his little brother.

"I know, I know, but its little Katie Jones, she ain't a bitch like her mom, she's just a nice kid." Daryl said as he dug a hole.

"Hm, I think you gotta thing for little girls." Merle said and Daryl rolled his eyes knowing he couldn't see him do it with his back to him.

"If we had a kid sister it'd be Katie." Daryl said to him, "and the least we can do is bury her dad for her."

"Whatever you say, little brother." Merle said watching him since he refused to help her.

* * *

Katie put the comb down on the bathroom sink after washing off the blood and started down the hall. She could hear the brothers on her porch talking as they sat around. She went into the kitchen and fixed them some cold lemonade. When she brought it out Daryl was the only one that said thank you to her and then she silently sat on the porch steps.

It was obvious she was still in shock from what had happened to her. She didn't know what would happen to her without her father. Katie thought that as soon as things went back to normal she'd probably be moved to some foster house with people she didn't know and possibly get treated worse than she had been by her father.

"You feelin' alright, kid?" Merle asked and she nodded silently.

"Do you guys think the woods are safe?" she asked them after a few seconds.

"They're as safe as they're gonna get." Merle said to her and she nodded.

"I saw someone walking in the woods earlier today." Daryl spoke up, "I didn't think nuthin' of it until now, I bet it was one them things."

"I looked up an article on my computer while I was in there," The brothers looked over at Katie as she spoke emotionlessly, "They said that there was safety in Atlanta City."

"Then we'll pack up and head to Atlanta." Merle said and then looked at Katie who was still staring off, "You comin' with us kid?"

"Do you actually have to ask?" she said looking over her shoulder at them and smiling a smile that just didn't reach her eyes.

* * *

Morana's Ramble: Ah~! Another chapter for all my lovely reviewers and all the people that favorited and alerted ! I've never had people review so much on just the first chapter. Thank you all sooooooo very much~!

It's going to be a little slow and not very exciting for a while guys, but you get to see the side of the Dixon brothers that Katie knows. I might have to wait until can find a site where I can watch the walking dead before I get into the things that actually happened in the show. If anyone knows where I can watch those I'd be very thankful if you'd tell me. So please review now and favorite and alert. The more reviews I get the more it makes me wanna right~!~!~!~!~! Morana out~!


	3. Lost Hope

Chapter theme song: They Say by Scars on Broadway

* * *

Katie threw a duffle bag and her tent bag over the side of Daryl's truck. Merle's motorcycle sat in the back along with their camping gear as well. They figured that if all of Georgia heard that Atlanta was safe then they would probably have to stay in the streets for a while. She just hoped no one asked why she was a young girl traveling with two older men. It just looked strange and she knew that they knew it too.

"You ready girlie?" Merle asked and she started to nod, but her eyes lit up and she turned around and then ran back to her house.

"C'mon Katie, we ain't got all day." Daryl called to her.

She grabbed a large baggie that contained what looked to be seeds and stuffed them into her pockets. She then went into her father's room and opened the drawer next to his bed. There was his wallet and a revolver. She grabbed his wallet and looked at the picture of her mother that he had always kept in there. Caringly she slipped it out and put it into her own wallet that was in her back pants pocket. She looked at the gun a moment as if deciding whether or not she should take it.

Her parents had always told her that the Dixon brothers and the rest of their family were trouble makers. She knew that once in a while Merle would beat the crap out of Daryl from his occasional black eye, but he'd never hurt her in the six years she'd known him. Coming to a decision she took the gun and then went to her dad's closet. She pulled out his old leather jacket and stuck the gun into the inside pocket so that no one would know she had it. The horn of Daryl's truck blared and she ran out with what she wanted.

"What took you so long?" Daryl grumbled at her.

"I was lookin' for a picture of my momma." She said softly as she went around the other side of the truck where Merle was waiting.

She sat between the two brothers as they made their way into town. It seemed pretty normal as they entered town only there weren't as many people around. As they got further into town it became a mad house. There were people eating each other and shooting each other in the streets. She saw a mother eating her infant which caused her to gag, but she held back the bile rising in her throat. She just ended up staring at the dash board of the truck after a while.

"People are lootin'," Merle said as they slowed to a stop in front of the town grocery store; its window's were busted out, "I don't see why we shouldn't either."

"She comin' with us?" Daryl asked looking at Katie. He knew she was a good kid and as far as he knew had never done a crime in her entire life.

"I don't want to be alone." She said even though she also didn't want to go out there either.

"Then c'mon kid." Daryl said and she slipped out after him, but grabbed her duffle bag on the way. Her plan was to fill it with whatever she thought would be useful.

Walking in she saw that the shelves were nearly bare and began looking around for what she could. She saw a display of seeds for various vegetables and flowers. In her mind she figured if this was the end of the world they could probably use these in the future. A smile came to her lips as she unzipped her bag and just about dumped the entire display of veggie seeds into the open bag. She then picked out marigolds from the flower display with a smile. Her father hadn't allowed her to plant flowers since her mother had died and she remembered her mother teaching her about marigolds since they had a yard full of them.

"Katie, look out!" She looked up from putting the seeds into her bag just in time. One of them was coming right at her. She grabbed her bag and put it in front of her as she backed up. There was nothing around her she could use as a weapon this time. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for her. It walked towards her and she backed herself into a corner. "Katie, run!" She looked at Daryl and then it was on her. She stuck the strap of her bag in it mouth as it came forward with its mouth open trying to bite her. Suddenly an arrow went through the side of its head and its weight fell on her. "Don't cry, you're alright."

She hadn't even realized there were tears in her eyes until he pulled the corpse off of her and pulled her to her feet. He led her out the door and threw her bag in the back as she slipped into truck cab. Merle soon joined her and laughed as he saw her shaking.

"Aw, did little girlie get scared." He picked on her as she silently cried.

"Leave her alone Merle, one of them things almost killed her." Daryl said as he got into the driver's seat.

"She'll live." Merle sneered as they started towards Atlanta once again.

* * *

It had been three hours that they had been sitting in backed up traffic and it was starting to get dark. They watched as people got out of their cars and began talking with one another. The brothers stayed put, but even if they did get out Katie wasn't going to at night. She felt safe inside of the car and she felt that if she got out one of those things would come after her.

"Katie." She looked up at Merle as he watched everyone walk around, "I don't know if someone's found your daddy's body or not, but just in case if anyone asks who you are, you're our kid sister, you hear?"

"Yes sir." She said softly.

"And no more of that sir crap, if people is supposed to believe we're family you call us by our names or call us brother." Merle told her, "Now what's your name?"

"Katie J – D-Dixon." She said nervously.

"What was that?" Merle said picking on her again.

"Katie Dixon sir, I mean Merle." She said shaking her head.

"Good girl, now if anyone asks you ain't little Katie Jones no more, your little Katie Dixon, you got that." He said to her and she nodded at him. She could see how it would work, seeing as she had blue eyes like they did and her hair color was similar to Daryl's.

"We gonna talk to them?" Daryl spoke up as he watched the small group in front of them.

"Not unless they wanna talk to us." Merle said to him.

"I wonder if anything good is on the radios." Daryl said turning it on. Static filtered on and filled the cab. He changed the station and they heard someone screaming "Oh my god they're in the building!" followed by screams of agony. Daryl quickly shut the radio off as more silent tears rolled down Katie's cheeks. "The radio is no longer an option."

"What's happenin' out there?" Her voice was so soft they wouldn't have heard it if they hadn't all been sitting so close.

"Don't worry too much about it; I'm sure everything will be sorted out here soon." Daryl attempted to comfort her.

"I hope your right little brother." Merle said to him serious for once.

The night sky grew darker as they sat there. Katie drifted off to a restless sleep as she leaned against Daryl's shoulder. She dreamed of her father and mother before she died, but they both turned into those things. She woke with a start as something exploded far off in the distance. Merle opened the door and got out to see what was happening. Katie slid over and turned so she could see too. She could hear people crying around them as they watched in horror as bombs were dropped on what they thought was their only hope. Atlanta was on longer an option for them.

* * *

Morana's Ramble:

(skip to the next paragraph unless you wanna hear me complain about rude reviews) The nerve of some people I'm tellin' ya! I haven't even developed this character enough and some Guest reviewer called her a Mary-sue. I only had two chapters, how much character development did you expect from me? I mean, think about it people, this kid doesn't know how to really take care of herself, she's going to freak out when people attack her and you don't even know all of her back story yet. And don't even go calling her one of those Mary-sue's that always need rescuing, she's the same age as Beth from the show and Beth has more training that she does in fighting these things. Give her some time before you go hating! To the person who wrote that review if you have an account Caddie, but if you do please give me a PM telling me why you think she is a Mary-sue and I'll attempt to go back and fix it. I'm not mad like most people would be. I'd like to know what you think so I can improve. Thank you for telling me you think she's a Mary-sue, but please be a little nicer. If you can't be nice I'll turn off the gust reviews and I'd hate for one person to ruin that for everyone.

On a better note I posted a new chapter~! I have a poll up for you all to vote when you want me to post chapters. I want to try to post them once a week so I set up a few days when I know I'll be able to post a new chapter. Please go check out the poll~! Also tell me what you thought of this chapter! But please don't hate on it. This is my first Walking Dead fanfiction and I'm going to mess things up occasionally, and I would like if you'd point that out, but be nice please. Morana out~!~!~!


	4. New Hope

Chapter theme song: King and Lionheart by Of Monsters and Men

"Where are we going to go now?" she asked the brothers as they stood outside of the car. It was later in the night and everyone was talking about what they should do. It was obvious to many that Atlanta City was a lost cause, but some wanted to chance it. Katie hoped that the brothers weren't crazy enough to do something like that.

"We'll figure it out in the morning." Merle said to them.

They got back into the truck and went to sleep. It was in the early hours of the morning that Daryl woke up before them. He looked over and saw Katie holding onto his arm in her sleep while using it like a pillow. Merle was sitting there with his mouth open snoring slightly. He felt Katie start to stir so he pretended to be asleep to save her the embarrassment of him knowing she was holding onto him in her sleep.

Katie sat up blinking as she looked around sleepily when the past day's events returned to her mind. She rubbed her hands down her face sighing and wishing that it had just been a bad dream. Daryl decided to 'wake up' at that moment and groaned a little. She looked over and blinked at him.

"Hey." He said to her with a gravely sleepy voice.

"Mmm," she grunted as she looked out the windows at the few people who were also up at the time.

"Good morning to you too." He muttered and she shrugged.

"Sorry, I didn't sleep much." She said softly since Merle was still snoring.

"It's okay." He said to her with a quick smile.

"C-can I get out an' stretch m'legs?" she asked him and he nodded before opening his door and getting out.

She slid out the door and put her arms above her head and her shoulders popped causing her to groan. Daryl began rummaging through his bag for something while she walked around a little. She soon joined him in seeking out food that she had in her duffle bag. Looking over she saw Merle sitting half way out of the driver's side with his head in his hand and his elbow resting on his knee. She pulled out two apples and walked over to him. He looked up as she offered the apple in silence. Katie always seemed to have an apple on her all the time.

"Can ya give me the seeds when you're done?" She asked him.

"Surr." He said around a bite of apple.

Daryl showed up with some jerky and offered it to them. The small group sat around eating their breakfast quietly until they were approached by another man. He was about Merle's height and had dark brown hair and dark eyes to match. In the corner of his shirt it said "King County Police Department," and it made Katie a bit nervous.

"Hey, I thought I'd let you guys know that some people are forming groups and I thought that maybe you, your kid and him might want to join ours." He asked him, "The name's Shane."

"Merle, and he's Daryl and Katie over here is our baby sister." He told him as she nervously watched him.

"Nice to meet you folks," he said nodding to them, "So what do you say about joining our group?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Merle said much to Katie's fear.

* * *

They kept driving for a few hours. One in the group said they knew a place that should be safe for everyone to stay. As they drove Katie looked outside of the truck for the first time since yesterday and saw that there weren't any of those things around, there were a few dead bodies on the side of the road, but nothing dead was walking.

"Walkers." She said and Daryl glanced over at her while driving.

"Walkers?" Merle questioned.

"Yeah, the people that die and get back up again, they should be called walkers." She said to them. They had both overheard people saying that they were not living people. These 'walkers' died from a bite or got bit before they died and came back to life.

"Has a nice ring to it." Merle said as Daryl nodded as he thought about something else.

"You goin' to stay with us after we get there or are you going to join the other group?" Daryl asked her and she looked over at him in surprise.

"I don't know those people, I'm stickin' around people I know." She said being very serious.

"Okay girlie, but you're gonna to have to pull your own weight." Merle said and she nodded.

"Don't worry; I'm sure I'll be alright." She said to them smiling a little.

The group slowed down a little as they reached their destination. They turned off the main road and started down a gravel road that looked like people didn't take it often. It was a long road that ended at a place that looked like a campsite. The RV in the front pulled around and parked at the edge of the camp to give the others room to set up tents. Everyone started to park their cars and get out. There were actually a lot of people there, kids, adults, elderly, but as Katie looked around she noticed she was the only teenager. It didn't matter, or so she told herself, she hadn't been friends with anyone her age before anyway.

They got out and began setting up where they were going to camp. The place they chose was close to the tree line and away from the others. It only took a little while for Merle to show people that he didn't want to make friends. She knew he could be a jerk, but if you didn't give up being friendly he would eventually give up being a jerk. The looks people gave her were ones of worry, but she saw Shane telling people that she was family. The looks stopped as the day went on and soon night fell upon the group of survivors.

* * *

"You alive in there?" Katie woke up to the unpleasant sound of Merle smacking the side of her tent.

"Yeah…" she groaned rolling over in her sleeping bag.

The entire camp was bustling with activity in the morning sunshine. The kids were running around giggling and playing. Everything was peaceful and it made Katie smile. She believed that everything would work out as she looked over the others. There were a lot of people and everyone seemed to be fine. A few of the adults looked worried, but not scared or angry.

"I'm gonna go hunt for somethin' to eat." Merle said as she stood next to her tent.

"You have breakfast yet?" she asked him.

"Why do you think I'm going hunting?" he answered her question with a question.

"Hold on a second." She went into her tent and dug around her open duffle bag. She had swiped a lot of food that didn't need to be heated or kept cool from her house. With a smile Katie got out of her tent with a bakery bag in her hand. Her father always got them to eat and they always had them in the house. Handing a cream filled one to Merle she said, "I think it'd be a good idea to still go huntin', I can cook the meat for dinner or lunch."

"Good idea girlie, tell our brother I went out will ya." She smiled and nodded as she took a bite from one of the donuts. A few minutes later Daryl crawled out of his tent with a drowsy look on his face.

"Hey," He mumbled sleepily, "Where's Merle."

"Eh mint mumin'." she said around a bite of food before handing a donut to him.

"Thanks, now swallow an' say it again." He said and she did as told.

"He went huntin' for dinner." She told him, he nodded before reaching over and opening a canteen. He sighed when he found it empty and then looked over at Katie.

"Katie, can you go get me some water?" he said tossing her the canteen knowing she'd do it anyway.

She picked it up wordlessly and headed into the others' camp area. A woman named Lori pointed her in the direction of the lake. As she walked she nibbled on another donut when she noticed a little girl watching her eat. She smiled at her and stopped.

"You want my donut?" she asked her and he hesitated before shaking her head, "It's okay, I don't really like it anyway, it's the cream filled kind." She grimaced letting the little girl know she didn't like that kind.

"I like those." She said softly and Katie smiled.

"Then here, I don't mind sharin'." She said handing the donut to the little girl.

"Thank you, my name is Sophia." She told her sticking out her hand that wasn't donut filled.

"I'm Katie, it's nice to meet you Sophia." They shook hands as a woman with short hair watched them with a little smile on her face.

"Are they really your brothers?" Sophia asked her, "You're nice and they're kinda scary."

"Yeah, they're just a little grumpy about havin' to leave home." She said to her glancing over and seeing Daryl staring at her, "Uh, I'll talk to ya later I gotta go get some water."

"Okay, thanks for the donut." She said and began eating it as Katie walked towards the lake.

The water was a beautiful crystal clear blue color and she smiled hoping it was filled with fish. Katie filled up her false brother's canteen before he started to call for her to hurry up. When she got up there she saw that Daryl had his bow with him. She'd seen it with him so many times before, but now it made her remember what happened in the old grocery store.

"You okay?" He asked as he noticed her staring at his cross bow.

"Thank you." She muttered just loud enough for him to hear.

"For what?" he asked her.

"For killing that walker before it killed me." She said and he shook his head.

"Don't mention it." He said and she nodded slightly as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"Are you goin' to tell Merle I talked to them." She asked him.

"No, I don't wanna hear him bitch and moan about it." He grumbled as she sat down and then looked over at some of the people in the group. They were always staring at them like they were freaks for some reason, but it didn't seem to bother Daryl.

"Hey," they looked up as a short older man walked over to them, "I was wondering if you know how to use a gun?"

"Yeah, I do, what's it to ya?" Daryl didn't like the question, but answered anyway.

"Well, we were going to have the people that know how to use a firearm sit on the top of my RV and watch the group." The older man said to him.

"You want me to take watch?" Daryl asked him.

"Not right now, but later on today could you do that?" he asked him.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Daryl said with a shrug.

"Thanks, by the way my name is Dale." He said offering his hand.

"Daryl." He said shaking his hand, "That's my little sister Katie."

"Howdy." She smiled as she rested her chin on her knees.

"Hi," he said smiling back at her before turning to Daryl, "So what's your take on what's happening?"

"I don't know, from what've heard people died and came back." He said to him, "She's been callin' 'em walkers."

"Walkers?" Dale repeated to get a feel for the word.

"Yeah, 'cause they die, get back up and start walking again." She said and then looked away remembering what happened to her father.

"What happened with you guys?" Dale asked them and they got quiet.

"Tell 'em." They both jumped when they heard Merle's voice. He was leaning against a tree calmly watching the three of them.

"I lived with our dad and he got bit…" Katie trailed off looking at the ground.

"She called us and said she killed our father, we hid his body thinkin' she'd get in trouble for it and ran, turns out people were already killing each other." Merle said as Katie hid her face behind her knees.

"That's awful." Dale said looking at the girl with pity, "She's only, what, fifteen and she had to deal with that."

"I'm seventeen." She said surprising Dale by her actual age. She looked fourteen or fifteen and acted just as young as well.

"It doesn't matter, no one should have to kill their parent." He said shaking his head.

"I hope none of the kids here have to do that." She said standing up and walking off.

* * *

Morana's Ramble: Hello my lovelies~! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Now I NEED you to go to the poll on my page and vote on what day you want me to post these chapters. If you're a guest reader just say whether you want it on a Sunday, Monday, Friday, or Saturday. If you ask for a different day it will be ignored. I'm suggesting these days because they are the ones I have open in my schedule to post chapters. I'll give you until this Friday and it's tied for a day by then I'll give you another week. I will not post until there is day selected. Sorry.

So what'd you think of this chapter? I would like for you to review about it please~! I would also like to let you know that I'm going to go back and fix something that have been brought to my attention, as well as add some detail where I was asked to add detail. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed! It was very much appreciated! Please review, favorite and alert please! Morana out~!


	5. Finding Normalcy

Chapter Song: Now by Paramore

* * *

The women sat down around the lake washing clothes together. Katie sat among them washing her and the Dixon brother's clothes. She sat there listening to them talk about how they had lost cell phone service. Everything was shutting down and no one was left to keep the power going out there. They finally realized that the apocalypse was upon them and there was nothing they could do.

"Hey do any of you have something I can scrub this with?" Katie asked them.

"Here sweetheart," Carol said handing her a scrub brush.

"Thank you." She said to her and went back to scrubbing the blood stain from Daryl's shirt.

"What kind of stain is that?" Andrea asked her.

"It's blood from them hunting." She said not looking up.

"That's probably not going to come out." Carol said to her and she sighed as she reached into their laundry basket for another article of clothing.

"Ah!" she said throwing back what she had grabbed, "DARYL!"

"What?!" he shouted as he came down the hill to the beach.

"I'll wash anything you two want, but I draw the line at underwear!" she said throwing the wet underwear and hitting him in the face.

"Uh!" he threw them like they were on fire, "I've been washing our underwear so you didn't have to," he chuckled, "Must've been thrown in there by accident."

"Yeah, I bet, you were just trying to gross me out." She said and then splashed at him, but he jumped back in time not to get wet.

"Better luck next time." He said running back up the hill as she tried to splash him again.

"Darn it." She said as the others laughed at them.

"You'll get him next time." Amy said to her with a smile.

"Oh I know I will." Katie said smiling mischievously. The brothers had slowly let her talk to the others in the group, but they made sure she had a back story as to who she was in case anyone asked.

"I can't believe they're your brothers, I mean they're both old enough to be your father." Andrea said and Katie laughed.

"Well our dad remarried and… I was kind of a surprise." She said with a smile.

"It's good that they thought to save their little sister." Amy said smiling at her sister.

"I don't know what would've happened to me without them." She said and then stopped smiling, "Or maybe I do."

The group grew quiet at the thought of what would've happened if someone hadn't been there for them or if they had been in her situation. They eventually finished up washing and Katie went and hung up their clothes on the line. To her surprise Daryl joined her to help put the clothes up. After everything was hung up she was about to go look for another chore to keep herself busy when he stopped her.

"Katie," She looked over at him with her head cocked to the side, "I think it would be a good idea if I taught you how to hunt."

"Really?" her face lit up.

"Yeah, that way if you get lost you'll be able to get food or kill a walker." He said and her face paled at the last thing.

"I-I don't know about tha-that last part." She said envisioning killing her father over and over.

"It's okay, if we come across one, I'll take care of it, but I might start you off with animals." He said to her and she nodded nervously.

"Have you come across one close to camp?" she asked him and he shook his head.

"Not yet, but I have a feelin' it'll happen eventually." He said to her and she shuddered as she silently prayed that he was wrong.

* * *

The woods were a place that Katie felt safe and secure in, but now she couldn't help it. Fear of being jumped by a walker haunted her mind and she just couldn't feel that security she had once felt. With Daryl nearby she did feel safer though, and considering he had put a bow in her hands. It was different than his, it was a wooden bow and it was almost as long as she was tall. They stopped in a small clearing a little ways away from the campsite.

"Do you know anything about bows?" he asked her and she shook her head causing him to sigh, "Can you guess what kind of bow that is?"

She looked at the bow and gave a guess, "A long bow?"

"I guess you know somethin'." He said to her, "Now tell me how you think it works?"

"Well, I'd need an arrow." She said to him.

"Really," he deadpanned, "Now tell me how you think you'd use it."

"Um," she recalled the movies she'd seen with people shooting arrows, "I'd put the arrow here," she pointed out the arrow rest, "and pull the string back."

"Huh, I didn't think you'd know that much." He said to her as she looked at the bow.

"How old is this thing?" she asked looking up at him.

"It was my second bow." He said to her, "it's the one I learned with since I broke the first before I really learned anything."

"I feel kinda special now." She said smiling at him.

"Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head." He told her and she shrugged as she continued smiling happily.

"So do I get to shoot anything today?" she asked and he laughed.

"You're a little too excited about this." He said and she smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I just always thought archery was cool." She said with a little laugh.

"Alright, well I'll give you some arrows," she smiled brightly and he frowned a little, "but you're not killing anything today, got it?"

"Yes sir, I mean Daryl." She said looking around and realizing that no one was there to hear her mistake.

"It's okay kid." He said and she nodded in relief.

"So, what am I supposed to shoot at?" she asked him and he pointed at a tree.

"Trees… really?" she whined.

"Yeah, trees." He said handing her three arrows, "You're gonna try to shoot at them until I say you can move on to animals."

"Fine…" she huffed taking the arrows from him.

Katie had no idea how hard it was to shoot an arrow, but Daryl got a kick out of watching her try. She started to get frustrated and angry, but despite that she kept trying. Her hands started to hurt from the string slipping from her fingers so many times. While she failed miserably as Daryl shot the squirrels in the trees around them with ease. Finally after messing up for what felt like the hundredth time she turned to Daryl.

"What am I doing wrong?" she asked him and smiled.

"I thought you'd never ask." He said to her. Daryl took the bow from her and she watched him closely, "Okay, first off you have to stand like this," he stood in a stance, "You gotta nock the arrow; look at how my hands are," she looked at his hands as he held it in the right places, "Now you see how my hand comes back to my brow when I pull." She nodded as she watched him pulled the string back, "Alright, now, a word of advice take a breath before releasing the arrow and you'll be more likely to hit it."

"Thanks." She said as he handed the bow back to her. She did as he told and on the third try she actually sent the arrow flying. "Did you see that?!"

"Yeah, way to go!" he said high fiving her, "Now do that about ten or fifteen more times and I'll let you have a break."

"Okay…" she said with a sigh.

* * *

They ended up having to turn back before she had shot fifteen arrows when it started to rain. It had been an average Georgia summer day so the rain was a welcome relief to those that had been in the sun all day. Daryl told her that after the rain he or Merle was going to teach her how to 'gut' the squirrels he killed. That was what she dreaded, but at the same time she figured she would need to get used to doing and seeing things like that in this world. Everything had changed in this world; it was the beginning of the end of the world.

* * *

Morana's Ramble: I heard that I was missed? Anyone totally devastated by the last two episodes? I mean I bawled my eyes out at (Spoiler to anyone who hasn't seen the last episodes of season 3!) when Merle died! I didn't cry when Andrea died until I saw that Michonne was crying and I got all teary eyed for her. I mean, I liked Andrea, but at the same time I disliked her.

Anyway, every time I checked the poll it was tied so I didn't post anything for a while… I also had a lot of things happen. I've had crappy grades and I had a crap ton of home work to do. It's my senior year so… yeah. I'm sorry. The GOOD NEWS is that I've decided to post every Friday! Hopefully anyway… heh…

Also is anyone actually listening to the Chapter Songs? If so I'll just stop posting them other than for special chapters~!

So… please review (Although I don't deserve it for my lateness), follow, and favorite please~! Morana out~!~!~!~!


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